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Mans best friend

By Skean Dhude

For thousands of years man has kept and used dogs to perform tasks for him. From keeping a watch out to attacking invaders and aiding in hunts they have stood by our side and protected us and all for a few pats on the head and a bowl of horribly smelly food.

The chances are that we would be looking at having at least one dog as part of our survival prepping. The benefits of doing so have been long known and dogs can be found in most nomadic societies and most country folk have one. There are good reasons for that.

Advance warning of intruders

Offensive capabilities

Threat potential*

Company

Hunting

Herding

Retrieving

Detection

Search and Rescue

* By threat potential I mean that just having a dog by your side causes people to consider their tone and actions.

Of course these benefits come with downsides.

Training time and cost

Care

Food and Water

They limit your freedom

In a survival situation the benefits will far outweigh the costs especially if you have trained the animal well. They become companions as well which benefits your mental heath. Food is easy enough, the food dogs eat doesn’t need to have much variety as long as it contains the right ingredients and dogs don’t bother about eating the same food time after time.

So the real question is what dog is best for you? Some breeds are better than others at each task. You just need to look at the dogs Plod uses and compare with the dogs used for hunting, used by charities for companions and at every individuals home. There are several different types and their owners swear by them for a variety of different reasons. It it worth considering that you could have more than one dog for different tasks. It will provide cover and dogs as well as humans like company.

But the question remains, which dog is best for you? I don’t know much about dogs myself so I’m looking for advice from those with experience. Which dogs are best for different tasks? Which ones are more easily trained, have good temperments? Answers over at this thread at the forum please.

I see my dog as an integral part of my preps shes a small cross breed with no real practical training though on a regular basis i have let her out to deter would be predators around my chicken coup and even when tucked up for the night she will let us know if some one or thing is knocking around.
I know if SHTF me and my family will feel better having a dog in the home.

Agreed Daniel, same here. It’s all a matter of perception, wether you see dogs as friend or foe is often down to experience in early life. I do know that after living in Bradford for a few years a couple of rotties can be a valuable asset. I’m now bugged out in Wales but still keep dogs.